Quote Originally Posted by KristovK View Post
You are free to think whatever you want, same as you are free to use a playstyle in DDO that doesn't fit the game design. Neither makes you correct however.

DDO doesn't lend itself to permadeath, shrines to restore health/mana and res at, the ability to release from any quest when you die, these are clear indications that the game isn't designed for permadeath, otherwise there'd be options to disable those options while you play, making res shrines and release on death not availible to your character who's chosen those options. Those don't exist though, there is no option to disable those outside of a player's own personal choice to not use them. Therefore the game design clearly doesn't support permadeath, as after 2 years it's still not an option, despite permadeath guilds having been around since the game went live.

As for anything official from Turbine as to how the game is to be played...it's rather self evident how the game is designed to be played. It's a Monty Haul world that promotes powergaming as the defacto standard, and anyone who denies that is either lying to themselves or hasn't actually played beyond the Smuggler's Harbor. Dying is actually less of an issue than it originally was, with the removal of the death xp penalty, which further shows that permadeath is NOT something DDO was designed for.

As for rewards for having played the game X amount of time, well, if you play the game as it was designed to be played, you GET those rewards, high level characters with lots of loot and favor which allows the unlocking of 32 pt builds and a +2 tome of your choice for the character who hit that 1750 Favor. And the best part is, you don't have to play the game for 2 years to attain that, it can be done in less than a month if you so desire. Simply playing the game as it is designed will garner the rewards regardless of how much or how little you play, it's built into the system. Playing in some other fashion than the design of the game, well, those rewards will be difficult if not impossible to attain. That's not a problem with the game, that's a problem with the player and their choices in how they play.
I really think you are missing the point. I am not arguing that the game has buttons or rules for permadeath (or should even have them). Did you see that in any of my posts? It is a choice that offers freedom from twinking, and offers a more cautious, smell the roses approach to the game. It also offers risk that non-perma players dont feel because they dont have to worry if they die. Nothing more. I dont care how others play honestly. Doesnt really affect me, and I certainly dont think I am any better than anybody else. But again, this is not the point of the discussion.

Its about offering rewards based on being a long term player. As stated above in another post, many MMO's use a veteran reward model for things such as this. Thats all I would like to see. I really cant see a valid reason why some people are so rabidly opposed to allowing other paying customers benefits, just because their playstyle doesnt fit the general mold. My money is just as green as yours.